Waikoloa Resort Area - Kohala Coast, Big Island of Hawaii
The Waikoloa Resort, like others on the South Kohala Coast, offers luxury vacation homes and condos, hotels, golf courses, an oceanfront, and top-notch shopping centers that provide convenient services.
Shopping & Dining
The Queens' Marketplace is the first one you encounter upon entering the gates of the resort from the highway. It has a gourmet supermarket with lots of prepared items (ideal for grabbing dinner ingredients or a quick lunch), as well as well as personal care items and other essentials. You'll also find a Starbucks and restaurants.
However, visitors will find expensive lunch or dinner options in the food court, which has an Asian fusion-type restaurant, a DQ, and a decent place for local food, with teriyaki chicken plates and the other regular Hawaiian BBQ plate lunch options. If you're returning home from a long day of touring and want to eat something unfussy and crash, this is a good place to stop.
Further down the road, the Kings' Shops are filled with more upscale stores, including Tiffany's. There's also a good shop for souvenirs.
The Anchialine Ponds - Waikoloa, Big Island
If you keep driving down Waikoloa Beach Drive and take a left towards Anaehoomalu Point, just before Keana Place, you will find the Anchialine Ponds.
The Anchialine Ponds are part of a beautiful oceanfront park in the Waikoloa resort. It looks artificial, but it's not; they are brackish water (mixture of saltwater and freshwater) ponds formed in the lava rock that penetrate the water table and butt up against the rugged, coral-strewn coastline. They have no above-the-surface connection to the ocean, only below the ground via lava tubes! The University of Hawaii maintains the ponds.
This is a gorgeous place for a twilight stroll. As you walk the meandering path out to the coral beach, you'll see fish swimming in the blue-green water. However, it is a terrific spot to experience the simple joy of a lazy vacation read in relative privacy.
The Lava Lava Beach Club - Waikoloa Hot Spot
Here in Waikoloa, you also have easy access to the Lava Lava Beach Club, which is located on a spit of land that offers excellent sunset viewing and a lovely swimming beach. The Lava Lava Beach Club is a restaurant, not a club, and the vibe is similar to Duke's.
The restaurant is on the beach and affords guests great ocean views and island-style pub fare. At sunset, a live band creates a festive vibe. Parking is in the adjacent lava field, which is a bizarre sight in and of itself.
